FIFA Ultimate Team Packs Could Be Banned As They're Considered Gambling

You have to be 18 to put on a weekly accumulator and, if you're anything like me, throw your money away. However, at 16 you can play the lottery - and according to some, you can also gamble on FIFA Ultimate Team, but that could stop soon.

How annoying it is to pay for a FIFA Ultimate Team pack with your hard-earned money, or the money your parents give you just for making it another week of being alive, only to get absolute rubbish in your pack?

Is it as annoying as using that same money to back an eight-team accumulator, only for a late goal to screw you out of the thousands of pounds that were certain to be coming your way?

How much would this team cost you? Image: EA

Well, spending money on FIFA and spending money on gambling could be considered equally addictive, according to politicians in Belgium.

According to the Belgian gambling commission 'loot boxes' like those used in Overwatch and Star Wars: Battlefront II are gambling, according to its explanation: "The mixing of money and addiction is gambling."

Ultimate Team packs would be grouped under a similar umbrella, with players not knowing what to expect in each pack.

Could this soon be a thing of the past? Image: EA

As reported by the Independent, Belgium's Minister of Justice Koen Geens agreed with the verdict of the gambling commission adding, "Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child."

Mr Geens hopes to work with the European Union authorities to try and ban games from making money off punters by selling the chance to improve in the game, in exchange for money.

The offending Loot box. Image: EA

The news could also come as a blow to mobile gaming, which often relies on the potential revenue that exits by people buying in game purchases - although it is the random nature of 'loot boxes' that make them gambling.

The Belgian government has found support further afield too, with Hawaii politician Chris Lee describing the Star Wars game as a 'themed online casino, designed to lure kids into spending money', according to Business Insider.

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